Season 3 Episode 2: The Gold Standard: Valuing Intact Nature While We Fix What's Broken

About this episode

Mike Korchinsky discusses the flaws in conservation markets and the need to value intact nature.

Send us Fan Mail What if we've built conservation markets backward? Mike Korchinsky, founder of Wildlife Works, reveals how we've created elaborate systems to pay for reducing destruction while assigning zero value to what remains intact. After pioneering REDD+ carbon credits that moved millions to indigenous communities, Korchinsky is now challenging both corporate leaders and environmental activists with a provocative framework: "The market is the worst form of conservation finance - except...

People in this episode

Guest: Mike Korchinsky

Topics covered

• conservation finance
• REDD+
• environmental activism
• corporate responsibility
• intact nature valuation

Keywords

• conservation markets
• carbon credits
• indigenous communities
• environmental activism
• nature valuation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wildlife Works, REDD+, Conservation Finance Alliance, Conservation Strategy Fund

More episodes of 4Nature

• Scaling Finance from the Grassroots Up with Rony Brodsky · May 29, 2026 · 54 min
• The New Business Model Saving Coral Reefs with Nicolas Pascal · April 7, 2026 · 45 min
• Unlocking Capital for a Regenerative Blue Economy with Melissa Walsh · December 3, 2025 · 41 min
• WCC Special Episode: Transformational Leadership, Building Systems That Empower People and Protect Nature. · October 16, 2025 · 39 min
• Season 3 Episode 3: From Free to Priceless: The True Cost of Nature · June 5, 2025 · 56 min
• Season 3 Episode 1: Rewilding Our Money: How Bioregions Are Growing Regenerative Economies from the Ground Up · April 22, 2025 · 45 min